The head of AeroFarms, an industry leader, talks tech and expansion
It?s a staple of rosy pictures of our urban future, often viewed as the farming equivalent of flying cars. But vertical farming, long considered a curiosity, is starting to take root now. And according to the executive of one growing company, that means expanding beyond its niche, which offers a string of related commercial real estate possibilities.
Speaking at the ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas last week, David Rosenberg, CEO of AeroFarms, spoke about the company?s technological approach to growing crops, which involves a team of engineers, data scientists, and biologists. The high-tech private agriculture company, which opened a 69,000-square-foot farm in a converted steel factory in Newark, New Jersey, earlier this year, grows greens using aquaponics: plants are raised in beds without soil, sun, or pesticides, counting on LED lights and a rigorously monitored system of pumps and HVAC units to grow. It currently counts Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial as investors, has raised more than $70 million, and plans to open 25 farms over the next five years.
A rendering of a large Aerofarms operation

Developed over a decade, the company?s proprietary technologies, which utilizes automation and data analysis, produces results with just a fraction of the space used by traditional growing, and can constantly turn over new crops, regardless of the weather. The company is also betti...